A lot of the key players are the same, some of the coaches have changed, and the scheme isn’t all that different.

The expectation is what matters for Wake Forest’s defense.

“I mean, it’s no secret, right? I was disappointed with our lack of consistency there a year ago,” coach Dave Clawson said before fall camp started. “You need to have more consistency on that side of the ball.”

The end-of-season averages for Wake’s defense a year ago obstruct the reality that the Deacons played complementary football in the majority of their games.

Consistency was the killer, though. When things went bad for Wake’s defense, the results were abysmal: 48 points against a Clemson team that struggled to score all season, 58 points against a sub-.500 UNC team, and 56 points against a triple-option team (all due respect to future officers in the country’s military).

Enter former defensive coordinator Brad Lambert as the new defensive coordinator, bringing with him Glenn Spencer as linebackers coach and former Deacon James Adams as safeties coach.

“My expectation is that we’re going to be better on defense,” Clawson said. “How much better? I don’t know, that’s what the season will play out.”

Here is Wake’s projected depth chart for defense and special teams:

Rondell Bothroyd | 6-4, 265

Jasheen Davis | 6-3, 250 OR Bernard Gooden | 6-1, 273

Ja’Corey Johns | 6-4, 255 OR Kendron Wayman | 6-4, 250

Jasheen Davis | 6-3, 250

Ends overview: Discussing Wake’s defensive ends starts with Bothroyd and you could make the argument the discussion on Wake’s defense in general has the same starting point.

The fifth-year lineman led the Deacons in sacks (eight) and tackles for loss (16½) last season and it’s likely, based on watching him in fall camp, he improves those numbers this season. Bothroyd shares a lot of the tools of the two previous starters at Wake’s field end position – he’s got a non-stop motor like Boogie Basham, and he uses a solid blend of power and speed to pressure quarterbacks like Duke Ejiofor.

Both of those players were drafted and it’s reasonable to expect Bothroyd to put himself in a similar position next spring.

Wake’s defensive line is about far more than Bothroyd, though.

The end opposite of Bothroyd, Basham before him, and Ejiofor before him, has been a mystery for most of the last eight seasons.

Johns had 12 pressures (per Pro Football Focus) through the first six games – by comparison, Bothroyd had 15 – last season, but an injury caused him to miss five games, and he was limited when he returned at the end of the year.

Wayman is the source of intrigue here. He’s only played 132 snaps (PFF) in the past two seasons, but he earned plenty of first-team reps in fall camp and looked ready to contribute.

Davis and Gooden are the versatile linemen – it doesn’t feel right to call them backups because their versatility means they might wind up playing as many snaps as starters. Davis plays both end positions; Gooden can spell Bothroyd or move inside and play tackle.

Tyler Williams | 6-2, 295

Kobie Turner | 6-3, 290

Bernard Gooden | 6-1, 273

Dion Bergan Jr. | 6-1, 294

Kevin Pointer | 6-2, 285

Tackles overview: It feels like the deepest defensive line Wake Forest has had under Clawson and Dave Cohen, Wake’s defensive line coach who’s the only defensive staffer to have been in Winston-Salem for the previous eight seasons.

Being deep means feeling good about any of these five interior players entering the game, and you got the sense of that during fall camp. Turner and Pointer, as backups, received praise from coaches at different times.

Bergan is something of an under-spoken star of Wake’s defense. He doesn’t put up eye-popping numbers but he’s strong at the point of attack.

As long as Williams stays healthy and as long as Turner adjusts well from the FCS level, they’ll provide the majority of QB pressures from this group. Cohen has been tagging Williams as having the capability of being a fierce pass-rusher from the interior for years; the only thing holding him back is an extensive injury history.

Pointer transferred in from UL-Monroe before last season and didn’t find much playing time but after the departures of Miles Fox and Sulaiman Kamara, plus a year of familiarity at Wake Forest, he’s put himself in position to have a decent season.

Gooden’s flexibility in bouncing between end and tackle isn’t all that surprising – Willie Yarbary and Bothroyd have done so in the past – but is impressive nonetheless.

Jaylen Hudson | 6-3, 245 OR Dylan Hazen 6-1, 230

Chase Jones | 6-1, 231

Quincy Bryant | 6-foot, 214

Eldrick Robinson II | 6-foot, 212

Linebackers overview: Ryan Smenda Jr. will obviously be Wake’s starting MIKE linebacker this season – just not in the first game because of a carryover targeting suspension from last season. That saga is explained in the meat of this practice report.

In his stead for the first game will either be Hudson or Hazen, with the smart money on Hudson. The fourth-year linebacker has struggled to make an impact but looked as good as I’ve seen him in the last couple of weeks of fall camp.

While the circumstances aren’t fair, it’s on Smenda to move forward and be full speed when the Deacons go to Nashville in Week 2. And it might not be the worst thing to get Hudson and/or Hazen experience, given one of them is likely to be Wake’s starter at the position next season.

Jones was solid, not spectacular last season playing behind Luke Masterson. His 47 tackles were sixth on the team, and Jones had two fumbles forced and two fumbles recovered. On the PFF side of things, his overall grade (68.7) was sixth-best among Deacons who played at least 400 snaps.

This is lopsided because there never seemed to be a moment in fall camp when Jones was on the field with Bryant or Robinson. Bryant had a strong camp while Robinson … let’s say he was invisible, for reporting purposes, for a not insignificant period. But both of them seem to only be playable as outside linebackers.

Wake’s linebackers aren’t interchangeable but missing Smenda in the first game highlights how thin this position looks for the Deacons.

Coby Davis | 5-11, 200

Isaiah Wingfield | 6-foot, 193

Overview: If ever there was a player to hope just makes it through a season able to play every game, it’s Davis.

The sixth-year defensive back blew out his knee back in the 2018 opener at Tulane, came back but wasn’t himself in 2019, only played in one game in 2020, and finally looked like the player he was as a freshman in the first four games of last season.

That fourth game is where it ended, though, as what turned out to be another season-ending injury occurred against Virginia.

You’d be hard-pressed to find another player still in college who registered a tackle on Lamar Jackson.

Wingfield has a bit of a comeback story of his own. The Harvard transfer struggled to find traction last season but has looked like a natural fit at nickel since the spring.

It’s not that I doubt Lambert, who oversees the nickels, when he says the position will be matchup based and mentions Jones playing lining up at nickel, or a couple of the safeties.

It’s just that Davis and Wingfield took nearly every first- or second-team nickel rep for the last two weeks of fall camp. That makes it hard to envision anybody else lining up in this spot for more than a select package or two.

(also worth noting: Wake’s offense isn’t exactly known for getting multiple with personnel groupings.)

Caelen Carson | 6-foot, 195

JJ Roberts | 5-11, 187

Gavin Holmes | 5-11, 175

Jermal Martin Jr. | 5-11, 170 OR Zamari Stevenson | 5-11, 175

Cornerbacks overview: Carson and Holmes are both third-year corners and it feels like they’ve been at Wake Forest for longer because they were both counted on as freshmen.

Part of the reason for that is they’ve both got raw talent and athleticism that, as long as their developments stay on track, will make them two of the better corners in the ACC.

Carson was better in some aspects as a freshman – 107 yards allowed on 16 catches, vs. 240 on 19 catches last season – but also improved in some areas last season. He had five pass break-ups last season after recording two as a freshman, and his tackling grade went from 57.0 to 84.8 – the result of going from seven missed tackles in 2020 to three in 2021.

Coming off of his season-ending shoulder injury, Carson looked great in fall camp.

Holmes is the other piece of the puzzle at corner. He only allowed 13 receptions against 31 targets of his coverage last season.

The New Orleans native suffered a hand/wrist injury against UNC last season and only missed one game, followed by the two highest-graded coverage games (84.8 against Clemson, 78.0 against Boston College) of his season.

“He grew up at the end of the year last year, he really did,” cornerbacks coach Paul Williams said of Holmes. “Continue to grow, continue to develop. We expect more out of him.”

Roberts is also an example of growing up, more so since the end of last season. It’d be tough to find another player on the roster who’s taken a larger step forward than him.

There aren’t many freshmen who will play more than four games for the Deacons, but Stevenson is likely one of them. He never looked overwhelmed in fall camp.

Brendon Harris | 6-1, 214

Evan Slocum | 5-10, 190 OR Malik Mustapha | 5-10, 197

Chelen Garnes | 5-11, 200 OR AJ Williams | 5-11, 192

Safeties overview: If you followed along in the practice reports, you’re aware of how difficult it is to project the starters at safety.

James Adams spent three weeks mixing and matching partially out of necessity (injuries do happen) and partially out of an attempt at familiarization.

We’ll see the result first with an official depth chart, and then with how Wake Forest actually lines up at safety in the opener.

The bet here is that Harris is one of the starters. The Vanderbilt transfer had a steady fall camp and seemed to mesh nicely with a couple of other safeties, notably Williams – a fourth-year Deacon who might finally be emerging as a solid player.

Garnes, Mustapha and Slocum were all participating in practices by the end of fall camp and that was a good sign (if you catch my meaning). If you saw any or all of them listed as starters at some point this season, it shouldn’t be surprising.

Nick Andersen slots in here … well, somewhere. But it’s not worth including someone who’s been invisible for reporting purposes all camp.

It’s also possible you see some snaps from Davis at safety if Wake Forest is rotating nickels frequently, and Christian Masterson showed in fall camp that he could be called upon if necessary.

Matthew Dennis | 5-11, 184

Zach Murphy | 6-foot, 200

Ivan Mora | 6-foot, 190

Zach Murphy | 6-foot, 200

Ivan Mora | 6-foot, 190

Zach Murphy | 6-foot, 200

Donavon Greene | 6-2, 210

Demond Claiborne | 5-9, 197 OR Wesley Grimes | 6-2, 170

Taylor Morin | 5-10, 176

Ke’Shawn Williams | 5-10, 185

Jacob Zuhr | 6-foot, 210

Will Cobb | 5-10, 200

Zach Murphy | 6-foot, 200

Ivan Mora | 6-foot, 190

Special teams overview: There’s really only one unknown here.

Dennis has big shoes to fill (I’ve hit my max on kicker puns for the season) in replacing Nick Sciba. There’s bound to be a time or two this season that Dennis misses a kick that has felt like an automatic three points (or one) for most of the last four seasons.

If it helps you, though: Remember that Sciba, the most-accurate kicker in NCAA history, missed his first field goal attempt. A 23-yarder at Tulane, wide right.

Mora has made a full recovery from the awful-looking Gator Bowl injury. Given Wake’s propensity for scoring, it might be more beneficial if he improves his kickoffs (six out of bounds, 39.6% for touchbacks) than his punting.

There’s some guesswork at kick returner. The No. 1 option might be Greene, but Wake Forest might play things cautious with putting him back there as he gets into the flow of things after missing last season. You could see the freshmen or any one of a handful of other skill players back to return kicks.